The last castle : the epic story of love, loss, and American royalty in the nation's largest home

Summary:

Documents the story of the Gilded Age mansion Biltmore, tracing George Vanderbilt's construction of his European-style estate and the efforts of his bride, Edith Stuyvesant Dresser, to become its protector in the face of changing fortunes and times.

"Before his marriage to Edith Stuyvesant Dresser, the wealthy and bookish George Vanderbilt had dedicated his life to creating a spectacular European-style estate on 125,000 acres of North Carolina wilderness. He summoned the famous landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted to tame the grounds, collaborated with celebrated architect Richard Morris Hunt to build a 175,000-square-foot ch�teau, filled it with priceless art and antiques, and erected a charming village beyond the gates. Edith became mistress of an estate nearly three times the size of Washington, DC, and benefactress of the village and surrounding rural area. When fortunes shifted and changing times threatened her family, her home, and her community, it was up to Edith to save Biltmore--and secure the future of the region and her husband's legacy. Spanning World Wars, the Jazz Age, and the Depression, and featuring a cast of real-life characters that includes generations of the Vanderbilt family, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Teddy Roosevelt, John Singer Sargent, Henry James, and Edith Wharton, The Last Castle is the quintessential American story of ingenuity, art, and perseverance."--Back cover of trade paperback.

Record details

ISBN: 9781476794044
ISBN: 1476794049
ISBN: 9781476794051
ISBN: 1476794057
Physical Description: vii, 388 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm
Edition: First Touchstone hardcover edition.
Publisher: New York : Touchstone, [2017]

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 309-363) and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

A winter's tale -- A lady of the long man rising -- Rhapsody in mauve -- Collaborations and consecrations -- A crossing of some consequence -- New mistress -- Forest for the trees -- Births of the century -- Trials and toymakers -- The more things change -- High and dry -- Final crossings -- Washed away -- Homespun and a great war -- Freedoms and flappers -- Glimpse of a castle -- You might go home again -- Epilogue.